You can hand in pre-2005 notes till June: RBI

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has extended the deadline for turning in pre-2005 currency notes to June 30, 2015. Earlier, all citizens had to turn them in by this month-end. The most visible difference between the old and new notes is that the latter carry the year of printing.

As part of its drive to withdraw currency notes with basic security features, RBI had said that all notes issued prior to 2005 would be withdrawn from circulation. They would continue to be legal tender, but RBI would destroy them as and when they come into bank branches.

In a statement released here on Tuesday, RBI said that it is soliciting cooperation from the public in withdrawing these notes from circulation and has urged them to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch convenient to them. The RBI has stated that the notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also clarified that all such notes continue to remain legal tender. “The notes in Mahatma Gandhi series have been in circulation for a decade. A majority of the old notes have also been withdrawn through bank branches. It has, therefore, decided to withdraw the remaining old design notes from circulation. Not having currency notes in multiple series in circulation at the same time is a standard international practice,” the RBI statement said.